tim> How much more complex is a /bin/proccat that (for example) changes
tim> null terminated key:value pairs into text? E.g. the proc files would
tim> contain something like:
tim> "key1\0val1\0key2\0val2\0..."
tim> which would translate to:
tim> key1 : val1 key2 : val2 ...
tim> Support for hierarchical entries, simple tables, etc doesn't make it
tim> much bigger. Anything can appear in a field (including ':'), and the
tim> binary version is trivially machine readable. /bin/proccat is likely
tim> to succeed whenever /bin/cat would, so it is usable when your system
tim> is hosed.
Hmm.... I'd use a tab instead of a null (I admit, I'm a stickler for
human readability :) but other than that, yeah, I definatelly like it.
Human readably, easily parsed by C progs or by your favorite perl script...
perhaps even different versions of proccat to format the output to your
taste.
-- Windows: I can play Doom! |RedHat Linux 2.0.30 i486 Linux: I can be a file server, be a Web|Because reboots are for upgrades! server, run the accounting package with|finger rasmusin@paramount.res.wpi.edu twelve terminals AND play Doom! |for pgp key. frank sweetser pgp fingerprint = 79 26 EF D7 97 EC 50 AF 17 1F 39 D9 93 6F 04 D4